John KovalenkoWRTG 2010: BeasleyArgument II: “An Unjust War”Few, if any, would argue that drug abuse in the United States is not a serious problem. However, the problem remains of how to deal with it. The current scheme of the politicized and militarized “war on drugs” does not appear to be working to reduce drug use in this country. More and more prisons are being built, with increasing numbers of citizens (particularly among minorities) becoming incarcerated and subsequently trapped in the cycle of the criminal justice system. Current policies of punishing drug users not only strain monetary resources and infrastructure; they are in fact perpetuating great suffering and social injustice. What is needed is a systematic shift from a punitive ideology to a preventative and rehabilitative ideology, but in practice, as in most cases, money will speak loudest. The current “war on drugs” methodology fails to recognize both the ineffectiveness of legal deterrent measures as a long-term solution, as well as the reality of addiction as a serious disease. Furthermore, a disproportionate number of minorities appear to be the primary target of this system. There are also arguments that suggest that social betterment is not actually at the heart of current drug legislation, but that instead it is profit for particular agencies and industries involved that drives the law. However, the most compelling political argument against the war on drugs is the cost. Research shows that the United States is home to the highest incarceration rate of any nation in the world, with 40% of arrested inmates having been convicted of nonviolent drug crimes. The federal government has spent billions on drug control while only a small paper government has managed to double its prohibition efforts. Today, faced with many materially similar facts surrounding the history of criminal alcohol prohibition, the public should once again respond reasonably. To solve this vast and complex drug problem in America, we must first recognize that the "War on Drugs" is not actually a war at all, but is instead an attempt to avoid the real challenges of addressing our shortcomings as a society, as individuals and as a nation, imagining that the drugs themselves are to blame. Perhaps today, as we see our armed forces engaged in wars abroad, our economy in flux, and our nation heavily embroiled in a global “War on Terror,” the illumination of the facts will produce the collective will needed to disengage from this internal battle. of our own making, and finally declare an end to the “War on Drugs”..”